CIW Courses - CIW Certifications and Flexibility
The CIW—an acronym for Certified Internet Web Professional—is a certification that denotes a broad range of expertise in computer and Internet technologies. Unlike many other certifications, the CIW certification is not specific to a particular company's software. For this reason, this certification is very popular with government agencies, academic institutions and businesses that use software other than the leading manufacturer's in the course of their business. A CIW certified individual is a specialist in a particular field of computer technology rather than a specialist in using a particular piece of software provided by a specific vendor.
CIW certifications are specialized in either networking, web site design, web application development, server administration, security or database applications. This broad variety of potential specializations makes these individuals very useful to their companies. It also provides a solid foundation for those who wish to strike out on their own and work as independent contractors in the IT world.
The concentration on a field of information technology rather than on a particular vendor's system allows employees who carry a CIW certification to serve in a broader range of capacities for their employers. Though the market, particularly where operating systems are concerned, is dominated by a few vendors, open source applications are becoming increasingly popular. For individuals with CIW credentials, there is really no difference whether their systems run on one operating system or another as their training has to do with the core technologies that make those operating systems and Internet technologies work, rather than upon their presentation by any particular vendor.
For web design positions, CIW qualifications mean that the carrier of the certification understands the actual languages that make the web function rather than how to operate a particular piece of web design software, though familiarity with the most popular web design suites is also taught. The same can be said where networking and databases are concerned.
There is no knowledge required in advance of pursuing a CIW certification. The certifications are available at different levels of detail, which means that individuals can achieve one level of certification in a particular field and then apply that knowledge toward achieving more advanced levels of certification.
Several leading companies now use CIW certifications as a means of advancing the knowledge of their own employees. For those seeking to obtain more qualifications on their own, they provide a route toward doing so that does not lock one in to servicing only one vendor's products. While vendor-specific certifications certainly have their value, it's easy enough to see that if one were seeking work with an employer who did not use that particular vendor's software the certification would be much less useful.
Like most certifications, CIW certifications are available from several different sources, many of which can be found online. Whether or not one wishes to specialize in a particular vendor's software at some point in the future, the CIW certification will prove more than useful in pursuing other degrees as it addresses the core concepts of technology.